


Do You Remember When We Watched The Stars?

by StoryQueen



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU: High School, Confusion, Fluff, High School AU, Love, Love denial, M/M, Mention of Past Abuse, Mention of alcohol, Mention of sex, So many pairings!, Work experience, mention of BDSM, mention of drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2018-01-20 21:42:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1526762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryQueen/pseuds/StoryQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What did you wish for?"</p>
<p>Or the one where Louis meets Zayn while on work experience. Lots of kisses from numerous pairings and lots of fluff!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do You Remember When We Watched The Stars?

**Author's Note:**

> I based this off my work experience at a primary school. There is a lot of confusing points in this, so sorry. And I’m sorry if I make it look like Louis is a slut; he’s not, he’s just a nice (and confused) person! :D I hope you enjoy anyway! Love forever x

They had all known about work experience for a while. A few years, in fact. They were all half-excited, half-nervous about the whole ordeal, but as the weeks drew closer, Louis couldn't help feel giddy. Work experience was in October, so in the April of the same year, Louis made his way through the front doors of the local theatre.

"Hi, I'm Louis, and I'm from Elved High School. I am looking for work experience. Please can I speak to the manager?"

He had practised this a million times in his bedroom last night, his friend Harry, who was trying to read a book for his English class, threw pillows at him, trying to get him to relax and sit down. Louis was now glad he had practised.

The lady at the front desk of the theatre looked at at Louis through the thin-rimmed glasses she had perched on the end of her nose. She frowned, but then pointed over to the main staircase of the building. "Top floor, second door on the right."

"Thank you," Louis said quickly as he scurried off. He wanted to run up the stairs, but he made himself walk. No need in looking out of breath when he met the manager.

He got to the door and knocked boldly. He was let in to see a middle-aged woman sat at a desk. He went through his whole speech again, to which the woman nodded.

"Why, thank you, Lewis."

"Louis..."

"If I can have your CV, then that will be lovely. I'll contact your school nearer the time."

Louis thanked her and left. Harry was in the entrance, talking to a girl he knew from school. He smiled when he saw Louis.

"How'd it go?"

"Alright," Louis smiled. He felt very proud of himself.

Harry said goodbye to the girl and patted Louis on the back as they started to walk out of the theatre. "I was just talking to Emily."

"I can see," Louis said, to which Harry pinched his hip with a laugh.

"She said that she was wanting work experience here as well."

Louis frowned. "Oh. Really?"

"Yeah. Apparently it's a really popular place."

Louis stared at the ground where his feet were walking. Harry patted his back again. "You'll get in, Lou, don't worry."

Louis smiled at his friend. "I hope so."

\---

In the end of September, they were told the news. Harry was accepted at the bakery he wanted to go to. Their friend, Niall, wanted to work at the pet shop, but he was accepted at the animal shelter in the nearby village, and he was happy with that. When the teacher came to Louis, being close to the end of the register, she frowned down at him.

"Where did you apply to, Louis?"

"Elved Theatre."

The teacher glanced at the paper in her hand. "Ah, yes. I'm sorry, Louis, but it seems that the theatre was a popular choice."

Harry looked smugly at Louis. Louis was annoyed, but just pulled a tongue at his friend. "So where am I going?"

"Well, it seems that the school hasn't been able to organise you a place yet. I'll tell you when they've found something."

\---

"Sorry about the theatre, Lou-"

"Shut up, Harry. I saw your face back then." Louis bumped shoulder with Harry, who laughed.

"Told ya it was popular."

Louis adjusted his bag on his back as they walked home. Harry smiled at his feet. "Shame, really. They've missed out on an amazing actor. Their loss."

There were some times in his life that he wanted to kiss Harry for being such a good friend. Right then, well, he would have got out the cherry chapstick. He didn't. He kept walking, smiling.

"Thanks, Haz."

\---

A letter was sent home a few days later. Louis' mum opened it and smiled. "Hun, your school's got you work experience!"

Louis took the letter and read over it. "Kingly Primary?"

\---

"Kingly Primary?!"

Louis sighed. Harry could be dramatic at times. "Yes, Harry. I have to work with those brats."

"But I thought you liked children, Lou..."

"I do, it's just..." Louis paced backwards and forwards across his bedroom floor, the phone pressed against his ear. "You know what Kingly is like."

Kingly was the neighbouring village, full of nasty little scumbags and druggies. The thought of having to walk there every day for an entire week had Louis shuddering.

"You'll be fine, Lou. They're not going to kill you..." Harry paused. "On the first day..."

Louis groaned and flopped backwards onto his bed. "I hate you sometimes, Harold."

Harry chuckled. "Don't worry, Lou. Look, we'll meet up at lunch, right? You'll have a lunch break, or something."

Louis nodded, then remembered the phone. "Yes, I guess."

"It'll be okay, Lou."

\---

The night before his first day of work experience, Louis stayed up late. He climbed out of his window and sat on the tree branch just outside. It was a quiet, still October day. It hadn't rained in a few days, unusual for Britain, and it was quite peaceful, just sitting there, eyes closed, listening to the night. He only went back inside when he heard his phone buzz on his bedside table, indicating a text from Harry.

'I don't care what you say, Tomlinson, but you, I and Niall are going to London after this week of Hell and are going to have a fucking good time. x'

Louis laughed and crawled into bed. 'Okay x'

\---

Kingly Primary. The front gates needed a new layer of paint, the bricks were crumbly and the yard was littered with broken skipping ropes and crisp packets. Louis thought he was standing in front of a horror game set, not a primary school still in use. There were children all playing on the yard, and when Louis step foot past the broken gate, they all turned and glared at him. Louis gulped and slowly made his way to the front door, one-hundred set of eyes burning into the back of his skull.

In the main office, a lady called Miss Gren greeted him. Louis decided straight away that he liked Miss Gren, and that she was probably the nicest person around this place. She didn't do anything particularly nice, per se, just smiled a lot, which comforted Louis.

"There's three other people doing work experience here this week," she explained, "so we'll alliterate you around each department. We have the nursery, the Year 1's and 2's, and the Year 3's and 4's. Unfortunately, because of safety reasons, we can't let you work with the Year 5's and 6's, but I'm sure you'll understand."

Louis nodded. What, did they think he was going to rape them or something?

Miss Gren continued. "I've already set the other three their jobs, since they arrived early-" (Louis cringed at his punctuality) "- so I'll put you together with the boy in the nursery class. You and him will be in there today and tomorrow, then we'll swap so you'll both be in the Year 1's and 2's for two days. Then on Friday you'll both be in the Year 3's and 4's."

Louis nodded again and followed Miss Gren to the Nursery department. She showed him to the staff room, a small kitchen with a cloak cupboard, and told him to leave his stuff there. "Mrs Hughes will be here shortly. She's outside with the children. She'll help you through everything here in the Nursery. Good luck, Louis," Miss Gren said quickly then left.

Louis stood awkwardly in the kitchen area, looking around, wondering what to do. He heard footsteps behind him, and assumed it was Mrs Hughes. He turned around, smiling, only to be met with another boy like himself.

"Hi."

"'ello."

They both stared at each other for an awkward moment before the boy coughed and smiled. "You doing work experience as well?"

"Yeah."

The boy was carrying a empty tray with a few milk drops on it. He walked past Louis and placed the tray by the sink. "I'm Zayn. I go to Argoid High."

"I'm Louis. I'm from-"

"Elved, I know. You're Harry's friend, aren't you?"

Louis pulled a confused face and nodded. Zayn put his hand on his hip and glared thoughtfully at Louis. "I've seen ya go to his house."

Louis was about to ask, but then a big, short lady hobbled into the kitchen and smiled at the two boys. "Ah, thanks for putting the milk out, Zayn. And you must be Lewis-"

"Louis."

"Oh, sorry love." The lady put her handbag down on the worktop and turned to face the boys. "Well, the children are all through in front of the whiteboard. Zayn, if you want to go sit down with them, that'll be lovely. Make sure they behave while I sort out Louis."

Zayn nodded and walked out of the kitchen. The lady smiled at Louis. Louis could tell she was a fairishly nice person, one of those people where they'll treat you well as long as you work hard.

The lady turned to her side and handed him a packet of blue straws. "Zayn must have forgotten to put the straws into the milk cartoons. Can you do that for me, please. The food table is over there." She pointed over Louis' shoulder. Louis nodded and walked in that direction.

The food table was in a corner of a play room, with badly painted cardboard cutouts of fruit and veg stapled to the walls. Louis chuckled. Typical toddlers, can't paint in the lines for their lives. The milk cartons Zayn had lay out were circled on the table, about twenty cartons, and Louis began taking the blue straws out of the packet and placing them into the cartons. He had no idea why the Nursery gave them to the kids; probably some government scheme, or something.

When he had finished, he could hear Mrs Hughes taking the register in the next room. He walked over and stood by the door. All of the children were sat on the floor (which Louis wanted to laugh at, remembering the times in Primary school he himself had to do that) and Mrs Hughes was sat on a computer chair at the front calling out names. There was an interactive whiteboard on the wall, which Louis was surprised at. His high school had them, and he didn't expect such a tip-hole like Kingly to have such posh technology. And in a primary school as well! (What was next, holographs?!)

Louis spotted Zayn, sat amongst the sea of twenty children on the floor. He looked a little uncomfortable, a small ginger-haired boy bounding up and down on his lap. Louis gave a small chuckle, which caught the attention of a few of the children nearby.

Mrs Hughes, now having finished the register, smiled up at Louis and gestured for him to join Zayn on the floor. Louis sat down, and within two seconds he already had a small Asian girl sat still on his knees. "Right children, we have two boys going to be helping us for the next few days," Mrs Hughes said in the retarded voice you use when talking to children. "I'd like you to say hello to Mr Malik and Mr Tomlinson." The children gave a chorus of "Hello Mr Malork, hello Mr Thomson," to which both Zayn and Louis chuckled at.

Ah, surnames. May the forever curse it's owners.

Mrs Hughes decided not to correct them and got on with the lesson. She put on a Pepper Pig DVD for them to watch on the whiteboard projector. Louis and Zayn both watched as well, cringing at the stupidity of children's TV and laughing to in spite of themselves.

It was in this moment that Louis noticed that he had been laughing a lot in the past ten minutes. Eleven minutes ago, he was on the verge of suicide, not wanting to set foot in the school, but now... Now he was laughing as Pepper Pig rolled in muddy puddles with little children fighting for a seat on his lap.

After the five minutes episode was over, Mrs Hughes told the children to go to their Maths table. All of the children stood up and ran over to the other side of the room where two round tables sat.

Louis smiled at Zayn. "I haven't seen anyone so eager to Maths in my whole life," Zayn mumbled to him, which made Louis laugh.

Zayn, Louis decided, was nice. He seemed to like children.

Louis liked children. Maybe that's why he didn't mind the job so much. It was just the area the school was based in that got him annoyed.

Mrs Hughes handed Louis and Zayn a pile of paper to give out to the children. They did so, and the children got on with trying to draw numbers. Louis knelt down and helped them, holding their tiny hands in his own as he showed them how to hold a pencil. They had so much to learn in their lives.

After Maths, it was their break time. Louis noted that they had only been working half an hour, and they were already on break. Zayn joined him as they walked with the children through to the play room, where the food table was in the corner. "They certainly are energetic," Zayn said as they watched the children run around, deciding whether they wanted to play with the Duplo blocks or the toy house.

Louis chuckled, but then Mrs Hughes was calling him over. "Louis, can you make sure all of the kids have their milk, please." Louis smiled a goodbye to Zayn and plodded over. Mrs Hughes showed Louis how the milk-system worked. The children take their laminated picture off the Velcro board that stood next table and put it in a tray. They then took a milk and drank it. If there was any faces left, Louis would have to find them so that they drank their milk.

Louis got on with his job. He was a natural, really, after having helped bring up his younger sisters. The children would tell him he's finished, only to show him that they'd only had a sip, and Louis would reply with, "One more big sip, okay?" He found the milk-skivers and made sure they had drank their milk.

By the time that break was over, and all of the children had been rounded up and were back on the carpet in front of the whiteboard, Mrs Hughes grinned at him.

"Do you have younger siblings?" she asked. Louis nodded. "I can tell." She got on with the next lesson while Zayn and Louis tidied up the few toys still left out.

"I love little children," Zayn had whisper-talked to him. Louis smiled back with a nod. "Part of me can't wait to be a father."

"Just remember, they're a baby first. Little pooping, crying, smelling machines..." Zayn laughed at Louis as he gently placed a doll back into its cot.

"It would be nice to look after a baby, though."

Louis watched as Zayn gazed lovingly down at the doll, tucking it under its blanket. Louis sighed. Zayn was right. They were both sixteen, and these children had already got them thinking of parenthood.

"Yeah, you'll find a wife and have beautiful children, I'm sure of it." Louis punched Zayn in the arm as he said this, and Zayn's head shot up, as if embarrassed to be caught playing with dolls.

Zayn sighed and looked down as he started to walk away. "Shame that's not going to happen."

"What do yo-"

The children all started singing Nursery rhymes in the next room, interrupting Louis as he quickly tried to figure out which one it was. By the time he remembered he was talking, Zayn had gone through and was joining in their singing and clapping. Louis sighed and looked back at the doll.

Zayn. He confused and amused Louis at the same time.

\---

On his lunch break, Mrs Hughes told him he could go to town to get food. Louis didn't want to be in Kingly village centre, so took the express bus back to Elved. He had an hour, so it was okay. He met Harry down at the chippy.

"You still alive then?" Harry asked as Louis walked into the shop. Louis nodded, breathing in the sweet smell of greasy fish and salty chips. Harry already had a cone himself, so Louis sat down on the opposite side of him and nicked a chip.

"It was alright," Louis said, munching on the greasy food.

"It's nice where I'm working. The ladies there are lovely. And, my God, Lou, the buns! Ah!" Harry waved his hands in the air. "Heaven in a cake, I swear, Lou!"

Louis took another chip and smiled. "The children are really nice," he stated. Harry nodded for him to continue. "I have to work with another lad. He's from Argoid. Name's Zayn."

Harry pulled a quick face before he burst out laughed. "Wait, Zayn Malik?"

Louis nodded, taking the cone of chips off his friend before he spilt them over the table with his laughter. Harry calmed down and patted the table, trying to control himself. "God, that guy's a loser!"

Louis remembered Zayn saying something about knowing Harry. "You know him?"

"Yeah." Harry took the cone of chips back off Louis. "He's that fag who lives next door."

Louis pulled an amused look. Considering Harry was not-so-straight himself, he couldn't half be offensives. "Left or right?"

"Number 27," Harry said, eating a chip. Louis thought for a minute, picturing Harry's house, then he pictures number 27.

That was Zayn's house? Louis had often wondered who lived in that house. It was as run down as Kingly Primary, and there was never a time when Louis had gone to Harry's house and had not heard shouting or banging. He had seen a boy enter the house with a girl, but he never really took that much notice to them. The girl was probably Zayn's sister, or something.

Harry patted the table. "Actually, Zayn's the guy who lived next door. He was kicked out a few weeks ago."

Louis got curious. "What happened?"

"Came out to his dad, at long last. Walked out of the building with his face smashed in. Me mum spotted him and took him to the hospital. He was alright. He fine now, right?"

Louis nodded. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with Zayn's face. Maybe one eye was darker than the other, but he just assumed that was lighting.

"Where's he living now?" he asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulder, flicking a chip across the table. "Don't know. I think he's around at his friend's house, or something. Probably his boyfriends."

Louis thought back to the conversations with Zayn. He remembered Zayn saying how he wanted to be a father, but couldn't. It made sense now.

Harry threw the rest of the chips in the cone to Louis. "I think if you're gonna get back in time, you need to be leaving now. Eat on ya way, okay?"

Louis stood up and gave Harry a quick kiss on the temple. "Thanks Haz. I'll see you later. Have fun."

"You too," Harry shouted as Louis left the chippy. It had started to rain, but Louis wasn't too bothered. He had chips and the knowledge of his new work friend being gay. Louis smiled. This week was going to be fun.

\---

When he got back, there was a new class of Nursery children. Apparently, in Nursery they only stay for half a day before going home. There was a morning and afternoon class. Louis arrived before Zayn, who had gone to Kingly village centre. Zayn was probably being raped down a back alley right now, considering the village's reputation, but as soon as that thought entered his head, it soon left as Zayn walked into the staff kitchen with his hood up, drenched in rain water.

"The Heaven's opened," he commented as he took his soaking wet coat off and hung it up. He clothes seemed to be fine, which Louis couldn't help feel thankful for. After knowing what Zayn had been through with his family, he didn't want Zayn having to go thought wet clothes as well.

Zayn made his way to the classroom, so Louis followed. "You see Harry at lunch?"

Louis nodded. "Yeah."

"Where's he working? He seemed happy when I saw him while I was walking here."

"Cremville's Bakery in town."

Zayn nodded with a smile. "He enjoying it?"

"Yeah. He said the buns there are Heavenly."

They both sat down at the back of new class, Mrs Hughes introducing them again to the children, who replied with, "Hello Mrs Mavrick, hello Mr Heroson."

"Heroson?" Zayn commented, and Louis laughed.

\---

The afternoon was much like the morning; Pepper Pig, Maths, milk, Nursery rhymes then home time.

Zayn stopped to talk with Louis in the staff kitchen.

"Today's been really fun, hasn't it?"

Louis nodded. "Yeah. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow."

Zayn gave Louis a smile, and for some reason, some reason Louis couldn't quite place his finger on, the smile meant more than what Louis assumed it meant.

Zayn reluctantly went to put his still soaking wet coat on when Louis stopped him. "You can borrow my coat, if you want?"

Zayn refused, but then Louis said, "I have a hoodie in my bag. I'll just wear that. You can give me my coat back tomorrow."

Zayn was silent a moment before taking the coat Louis was holding out for him. "Thanks Mr Heroson."

Louis laughed and gave Zayn a pat on the back.

\---

Louis hung upside down on Harry's bed. He stared at the back of Harry's head. "Why are you doing homework, Harry? We have an entire week off school."

"You don't."

Louis laughed, and then sighed. He could hear the screaming coming from next door. It was probably Mrs Malik getting beaten up again. Louis wanted to cry. "Has anyone told the police about what goes on next door?"

Harry gave thoughtful noise, obviously focused more on his work than what Louis had said, then nodded. "The bastard acts like nothing happens when they come around. Me mum's tried to get him locked up for a while now, but Mrs Malik won't let them take him."

Louis sat up, his head spinning as the blood rushed from his head. "Surely the police can do something?" He thought about Zayn. "Anything?"

Harry shook his head. "Welcome to Britain, where the best police force in the world lives."

"But what about social services? Can't they take Zayn's sister away?"

"Sisters. And no. Doniya is an adult. Her bastard father won't let her leave though; she told me so. Safaa and Waliyha probably could be taken, but they don't seem to be hurt. They're just paranoid, not hurt."

Harry stopped talking after that. Louis listened to the sound of his own breath. He thought about Zayn. He seemed a really nice lad; why would anyone want to hurt him. Just because he was gay, doesn't mean he should be rejected.

Gay.

Louis thought about it for a moment. Despite having a pansexual best friend, and a bisexual Irish school friend, he didn't really think about being not-straight himself. For a teenage boy, he just went with the flow, watching lesbian porn on his laptop and talking about girl's boobs with his straight friends in the drama club he was in. It was just normal for him; why should he question his sexuality.

He thought at least maybe the odd 'gay' moments he has with Harry (and the few times, Niall) might have left him guessing, but never once had he questioned it.

Until now. Until he met Zayn. And Louis didn't think it was Zayn himself that made him think about it, but more to do with the fact that Zayn was treated differently for being gay. Harry and Niall were accepted; Elved was a lot more variety accepting than other schools, especially Argoid, where Zayn went.

Louis thought about what would it be like for him to come out gay. His mother would probably be accepting, since she seems to like Harry and Niall, even when she walks in when his two friends are both making out on Louis' bed, looking a little bit dodgy. (Louis had to explain later out of pure embarrassment that they weren't together, and it was because of a game of truth or dare they were playing, but his mum seemed okay with it.) He probably wouldn't be able to tell his sisters, as they were all too young. Maybe Lottie could know, but the others wouldn't understand. Harry would be proud; Niall would laugh and pat his back. He'd be alright.

That is, if he came out as gay. He wasn't, as far as he was concerning. He just assumed he was straight. Anything could change that, but only when it happens.

Maybe he could make it happen. He wanted to know if he liked boys.

He thought for a minute, thinking himself crazy for even considering it, but then he sat up more on the bed and stared at Harry's head.

"Harry, what's it like to kiss a guy?"

Harry stopped writing and chuckled. He turned around to smirk at Louis. "Why? That Zayn kid got to ya?"

Louis shook his head. "No, I was..." He sighed and looked at his lap. "I'm just curious, that's all."

Harry stood up and cross the room. Louis was a little bit wary when he knelt down in front of him, hands gently placed on his lap. "Do you want me to show you?"

Louis didn't know why he made it come to this, but he nodded. He wanted to conform with words, to say "Okay," but Harry was already leaning forwards, a hand placed on the back on Louis' head.

Louis leaned forward as well. He may as well, he was asking for it. When his lips collided with Harry's, it made him jump. Harry chuckled, slotting Louis' bottom lip between his own. Louis felt the butterflies in his stomach- not nervous butterflies, but the butterflies that need to escape by laughing. He held it back, though.

He knew he was being awkward. He slowly put his hand on Harry's shoulder, this action itself made Harry pull Louis' head closer. Louis pulled away slowly, his lip caught between Harry's, leaving with a small pop. He laughed, looking into Harry's eyes. Harry smiled too, and then, to Louis' surprise, captured Louis' lip in his own again, a little harder than before. Louis went with it. Who was he to argue with his teacher.

The door opened and Harry's mum walked in, the pile of folded clothes she was carrying covering her face. Harry pulled away from Louis at the intrusion, but then laughed when he realised his mum hadn't seen them. Louis laughed as well. Now was his chance to get rid of those giggle butterflies. Harry's mum put the clothes down, confusingly glaring at the boys.

"What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," Harry laughed.

Louis gave credit to Harry's mum, as she didn't ask any more question and just left, muttering a quick and jokingly, "Use a condom."

Harry covered his face with his hands. "Mum!"

Once the door was closed again, Harry smiled at Louis. "So, what do you think?"

"What, the kiss or your mum, because if you ask me, you're mum's HOT!"

Harry shoved Louis backwards onto the bed, straddling his hips, and playfully punched him in the chest. "Fuck off."

Louis laughed, his head tilting backward into the bed. Maybe he didn't mind being kissed by a guy, but, there again, this was Harry he was talking about. Harry was not like every other boy.

\---

Louis arm was getting tired. He had been holding the poster paper in place for the past ten minutes while Mrs Hughes reloaded the staple gun. For some reason, Mrs Hughes decided that today would be a good day to redecorate the make-believe corner of the play room, changing the paper from yellow to purple. Louis would have much rather be dressing up in the silly hats in this area than holding up paper.

Zayn walked up behind him with a smile. "You alright there?"

Louis looked over his shoulder quickly. "Kinda. Me arms are hurting though."

Zayn chuckled as he took a step up to join Louis on the step ladder. It was a tight squeeze, knocking Louis off balance for a second, but then Zayn told hold of one of the corners, holding it in place. Louis held the other one.

"Thanks."

"It's okay."

Mrs Hughes came back after putting more staples in the staple gun and stapled the paper in place. "Thanks boys," she said quickly, dismissing them both to go play with the children.

Their second day so far had been much like the first, minus exercising their upper arms by holding paper up. Louis sat down where the Duplo was and started to build a Duplo castle, while Zayn sat on a small stool and helped a girl paint.

When they were let off for lunch, Louis went to the staff kitchen to grab his coat, which Zayn had given him back that morning. He turned to leave when Zayn grabbed his arm.

"Hey, is it okay if I come with you to Elved? It's a bit dodgy, this area."

Louis smiled. "Sure!"

"Yeah. Yesterday some dudes tried to grab my wallet. Had to leg it back. And it started raining."

They walked to the bus stop in silence, the grey clouds above them hanging a dreary tension between the two. They got on the bus and sat at the back next to each other. Zayn was sat by the window, staring out at the passing fields full of sheep. Louis had nothing to look at. Apart from at Zayn.

Louis thought about it for a moment, but then thought 'why not?' He had been thinking about Zayn all of yesterday, mostly about his family, so why not start thinking about 'him' now. If they were going to be friends, then at least look at him enough to know what he looks like.

He turned his head at an angle, enough so he could look at Zayn without actually looking 'at' him. Louis smiled. Zayn was quite a nice looking lad, now that he was noticing him. His hair was fluffy, spiky from the rain water that fell from the sky. Louis could see the stubble on his face starting to form a well tamed beard, and despite the fact that Zayn was sixteen, it looked good on him. His earring glistened in the sunlight that was poking through the clouds.

Louis smiled. Zayn was nice looking.

The bus stopped in Elved and both boys jumped off and made their way to the chippy where Harry was sat waiting.

"Oh, you brought a friend," Harry said with a laugh, reaching over to drag another chair to the table. "Welcome, old neighbour!"

Zayn glared at Harry. "Shut up about that."

Harry laughed and put his cone of chips in the middle for them to share. "Well, Zayny-boy, we have some catching up to do."

\---

Louis and Zayn hung their coats back up in the staff kitchen.

"So, wait, Liam did what?"

Zayn laughed and repeated himself. "He slept with his own sister by accident. We've never lived it down."

Louis laughed. This Liam guy sounded really cool. Maybe, he wished, he might be able to meet him. If Zayn and himself were becoming friends, maybe Zayn would invite Louis around to Liam's house, where he lived.

"How did he manage to do that?"

They walked back through to the classroom where all of the children for the afternoon class were sat answering to the register.

Zayn whispered, "Blindfolded Seven Minutes in Heaven. I know, crazy right?"

Louis laughed and sat down on the floor, legs crossed and hands supporting him behind him. Zayn sat down next to him in the same position.

Mrs Hughes put on another episode of Pepper Pig for the children to watch. Louis watched as well, laughing in spite of himself. He felt something on his hand. At first he thought it was a spider, not that spiders bothered him much, so he quickly lifted his hand up, enough for the thing to drop off him, and he placed his hand back down. He felt it again, though. He looked out of the corner of his eyes to Zayn, who was looking down at his hand.

Louis froze. He didn't really know what to do. He understood what was happening, but part of him wanted to ignore it.

But ignore it how? Leave his hand there and pretend Zayn wasn't slowly looping his pinky finger in between Louis', or move his hand and pretend it never happened?

Mrs Hughes stood up then, God bless her soul, and told the children it was play time. Louis jumped up to go help with the snacks. He didn't look behind at Zayn. He didn't want to.

He saw Zayn being dragged past a few minutes later by a small boy with big glasses. Zayn was pulled face which read 'help me', but Louis just chuckled then turned around.

He had no idea. All he knew was that his was in an unknown war, losing the battle.

The battle for what? He didn't know.

\---

"So, it's not raining."

Louis nodded in reply. He didn't know where this was going.

"You wanna walk home with me?"

"It'll take an hour to walk."

Zayn shrugged. "I don't care."

"What if it starts to rain?"

Zayn pulled on his dry coat. "Didn't hurt me last time."

Louis sighed with a chuckle. "Okay then."

Most of the walk back to Elved was silent. Zayn made a few comments now and then as they walked, one time about how the graffiti on the church looked more like art than vandalism, one time about the one black sheep in the field of white sheep, Louis nodding in response. Louis wouldn't say it was awkward, just... peaceful.

Cars would go past every few minutes, but apart from that, there was hardly any noise. Louis started to get lost in his own world, day dreaming about aliens abducting the innocent sheep in the field, or a giant monster atta-

Louis' hand flinched at the contact. He kept quiet and kept his hand still, and he felt it again.

What was Zayn playing at? Why was he doing this?

He felt Zayn's pinky loop with his again. Maybe if Louis did nothing, something might happen.

That something came in the form of Harry Styles.

The rusty, old, blue car rolled up next to them, and the passenger window rolled down. "Where you love birds off to?"

Louis pulled his hand away quickly. "We're going home, Harry."

"You need a ride?"

Louis looked past Harry to where Nick was sat, cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. Louis didn't really like smoking much, and he could already smell the stench of the car's seats.

"What about you two? Where are you two going anyway?" Louis asked.

Nick stubbed his cigerette out on the open window of the car and flicked it into the hedgerow. "Down ta Hecklow Beach. Got a mate down there with some booze."

"Can we come?"

Louis wanted to grab Zayn's arm and pull him away (he knew what Nick's friend were like; trust Harry to be 'friends' with this arsehole) but Zayn was already hoping into the back of the cancer-stenched car. Louis reluctantly got in as well, opening the window next to him to get some fresh air.

Zayn smiled at him. "It'll be fun, Lou."

"Sure..."

\---

Turns out the beach wasn't that fun after all. By booze, Nick had meant a three bottles of vodka and a bag of weed. Harry, Nick, and Nick's friend were all sat around a campfire taking the stuff while Louis sat alone a bit further up the beach. Zayn had gone for a wander. He had asked Louis if he wanted to join him, but Louis wasn't going to take any chances.

Zayn soon returned and look a seat next to him. "There's not really much here," he said with a sigh, lying backwards on the blanket Louis was sat on.

Louis watched as the sun set over the horizon. This was boring. Boring and awkward. "I hate places where there are people more drunk than I am."

"Oh, so I guess you won't be coming to Liam's party tomorrow?"

Louis gave a questioning look at Zayn. "His birthday tomorrow; didn't I tell ya? Me mates are planning a big party, you know, to celebrate him becoming the age where he can legally have sex."

Louis laughed and lay back next to Zayn. "Sounds fun. Are people gonna get drunk, though?"

"Probably. Someone always manages to sneak in a bottle of something..."

Harry plodded over and sat in the wet sand at their feet. "What are you two talking about? Your honeymoon plans?"

Louis flicked some sand at him with his toes. "Fuck off..."

Zayn gave a chuckle at this.

Harry, obviously not as sober as Louis thought he was, placed a hand on Zayn's leg. "Don't worry, Zayn, Louis likes men. He kissed me last night."

"Harry!" Louis couldn't help but exclaim. He sat up and glared at Harry.

Zayn sat up as well. "Oh, right..."

Louis didn't even know why he felt bad because of it. He only kissed Harry to see whether he liked boys or not. The kiss only gave him so much; he still didn't know. He felt like he had hurt Zayn because of this.

But why should he care. He wanted Zayn to be his friend, not a boyfriend. He wouldn't even know where to begin if he got a boyfriend.

He thought about it. Yeah, if they were boyfriends, they'd be holding hands and shit, not-

Oh, right. They had held hands. Well, at least their pinkys.

Zayn was talking to Harry when he zoned back in. "- don't invite your friends though. I think they'd just end up crashing it."

Harry nodded. They were probably talking about Liam's party.

Nick shouted Harry that they were leaving, so all three boys stood up. Louis looked at Nick, who was holding his car keys in his hand, stumbling around, trying to walk in a straight line.

"Harry, you're not getting in a car with him, are you?" Louis asked, grabbing Harry's arm.

Zayn grabbed onto Louis' arm at this. Why, Louis didn't know, but as soon as Louis let go of Harry's arm, Zayn pulled him closer. Zayn lent down so that his mouth was close to Louis' ear. "I'll ask Liam's mum to pick us up. I think it'll be safer."

"But what about Har-"

Nick's car was already driving away, Harry in the passenger seat. Louis prayed that he doesn't die.

Liam's mum pulled on a road close to the beach. When Zayn and Louis got into the back, she asked, "You haven't been drinking, have ya?"

Both boys shook their heads. It was dark, about eight o'clock, and both boys wanted to be in bed.

Louis noticed the boy in the front of the car. He was facing him, and he smiled at Louis. "Hi."

"Hi, you must be Liam."

Liam nodded. "You Louis, then?"

"Yeah."

Liam nodded again, then turned to look at Zayn. "You haven't been getting into trouble, have you?"

Zayn shook his head. Liam smiled with a sigh. He shifted around in his seat, battling with the seat belt, and reached out and took hold of Zayn's hand, fingers locked between Zayn's. "I don't want anything bad happening to you."

Zayn squeezed Liam's hands. "Okay."

\---

When Louis arrived at Kingly Primary the next day, he was directed to the Year 1's and 2's classroom. The two year groups had been merged together, so there was a class of about thirty children all sat on the floor in front of the interactive whiteboard.

Zayn was sat at the back of the class, and when he saw Louis he smiled and waved him over. Louis walked around the edge of the classroom and sat on a plastic chair next to Zayn.

"Hey," Zayn greeted. Louis gave a small smile back.

"Okay class, Mr Malik and Mr Tomlinson are here to help us for today and tomorrow. Say hello."

Louis was surprised when they got his name right, but laughed as they all chorused "Hello Mr Makitar."

"One day," he muttered to Zayn, "one day..."

They go to work helping the Year 1's and 2's do their Maths. The instantly noticed the change in intelligence. Unlike the Nursery class, these children could actually write, and do Maths equations.

The day went on, the boys being set different tasks. Sometimes they'd help out with the activities, sometimes they'd be tidying up after the children.

\---

Lunch came around, and Zayn and Louis got their coats from the staff kitchen.

"You coming to the chippy?"

"Nah, I'm gonna meet up with Liam," Zayn said. They both got on the bus and sat at the back again. "He's working at Elved Fire station."

"Cool..."

"No, it's hot..."

It took Louis a second to realise the joke, but even then it only made him fake a laugh. Zayn seemed proud of himself anyway.

\---

When Louis sat down with Harry in the chippy, Harry could tell that something was up.

"He dumped you, didn't he?"

"We weren't going out, Harold..."

Harry pulled a face. "Then why so down? You still have a chance with him!"

Louis sighed. There was something that had been bothering him all day and all of last night. "I met Liam last night."

Harry struggled to recall. "I know I was drunk last night. When did he show up?"

"After you had left. His mum took me home."

Louis took a moment to consider how amazing it was that Harry wasn't with his head on the table, complaining about a hangover, but he just assumed that his friend was use to getting high most weekdays when he wasn't studying. It was crazy. One minute Harry's studying, his thick-framed reading glasses tight on his nose, the next he's a pot-head with his (apparently not his boyfriend) friend.

"So, is Liam alright?"

Louis scrunched his lips tight. "He and Zayn held hands."

"So? I hold hands with Nick all of the time; doesn't mean we're dating."

Louis threw a chip at Harry. "Yeah, but Liam said he doesn't want anything bad happening to Zayn."

"I don't want anything bad to happen to Nick; doesn't mean we're dating."

"And he-"

Harry pushed a finger against Louis' lips. "Shush, shush, shush, dear Tommo. Listen. Zayn would have told you about Liam if they were dating. And if they are dating, then he's a bad boyfriend for cheating on poor Liam with you-"

"We're not dating!"

Harry pulled an amused grin. "You stop saying that me and Nick are dating and I'll stop saying that you and Zayn are dating."

"You know that's an absolute lie, Styles."

Harry laughed and threw a chip at Louis.

\---

Zayn and Louis had an easy afternoon. They had to paint cardboard cutouts of shapes, which at first seemed easy, but took up most of their afternoon.

"What times the party starting tonight?"

Zayn smiled. "Around seven. It'll probably last way into the morning."

Louis sighed as he got red paint on his hand. He left it though. "What about Liam's mum? I didn't think she'd be the type to allow parties."

"It was her birthday two days ago. Liam got her a break in London, from this afternoon 'til Friday. Enough time to tidy up as well."

Louis watched as Zayn accidentally painted his hand blue. Louis laughed. "We're paining ourselves more than we're painting these."

Zayn laughed and dipped his paintbrush into the blue pain. He leaned over and swiped the paintbrush across Louis' cheek. "What was that for?"

"Nothing..."

Louis squinted at him, taking his own paintbrush and dipping it in the red paint, bringing it up to give Zayn a red nose.

Zayn laughed and painted Louis' nose blue.

Louis laughed, but didn't fight back. He put the red circle to the side and grabbed the rectangle. "We need purple paint."

"I can make some," Zayn said. Louis felt a his head was twisted to the side, and Zayn's face was close to his. His mind went black, and it was only three seconds later than he realised that Zayn had rubbed their noses together, and he now had a purple nose. Louis laughed.

It was just Zayn rubbing their noses together. It wasn't an Eskimo kiss...

\---

When Louis got home, he got straight into the shower. The Year 1 and 2 teacher wasn't to impressed with the wasted paint, and Louis felt bad that they both almost got fired. He stood under the hot water, letting it cascade his body in its warm heat.

He got out an hour later after his sister had knocked on the door, needing to use to toilet, and he went to his room to get changed.

A party. It was only a party. He could just wear his blue jeans with his football shirt.

He got changed into this. Once he had finished, he turned to look out of the window, only to jump back with a loud scream. Harry laughed and opened his window. "You should have seen you face!"

"Don't scare me like that!" Louis shouted, hitting Harry in the chest. Harry kept grinning. "Pervert..."

"I am not a pervert," Harry protested, but only laughed. "So what if I want to watch my best friend get change from the lovely view up that tree?"

Louis hit him again for good measure.

Harry lay down on Louis' bed, looking up at the posters Louis had on his ceiling. "You really aren't going to wear that to the party, are you?"

Louis looked at him. "What's wrong with it?"

Harry sat up and raised an eyebrow at Louis. "Are yo serious? You really don't get out much, do you?" He stood up and made his way to his friend's wardrobe.

Louis stood watching before a pair of red jeans that he hadn't worn in years came flying at his face, shortly followed by a tight top.

"Wear those," Harry said.

Louis looked down at them. "But-"

"No buts, except yours, maybe... Get dressed, now!"

Louis glared at Harry. "Are you going to leave?"

"Nope! I've seen you naked before, Lou."

Louis stared in horror. "Like when?"

"Like, three minutes ago!"

Louis picked up his pillow and threw it at Harry. "I hate you!"

"You won't after you score tonight because you're wearing those!"

Louis looked at at the clothes again. Harry did have a sense of style; his last name kind of gave that away. "Fine, you pervert."

Harry grinned. "Excellent."

\---

The party was already well on it's way when Louis, Harry and Niall arrived. The music was loud, and Louis could see that a lot of the people were drunk. He really wasn't going to enjoy tonight.

Niall found his way to a group of people sat in a circle straight away, all playing a game. He joined in. Louis pulled Harry off before he asked them to join. They found their way to the kitchen, Harry pouring them both a drink quickly before he disappeared into the crowd. Louis stood there, holding his red plastic cup, wondering what the hell was going on.

Liam found him. It was only five minutes after Harry disappeared, but Louis was thankful.

"Oh, hey Louis."

"Hi."

"There is literally too many people here. Me mum's gonna kill me!" Liam grabbed a drink of Pepsi and jumped up on the counter. Louis sat next to him.

The bass of the music being playing in the living room was strong, vibrating under Louis, making his nod his head to the music. "Oh, happy birthday, Liam."

"Thanks! You should have seen the guys down at the station. They baked me a cake and all!"

Louis smiled at Liam. He seemed like a really nice guy after all.

They talked for about twenty minutes until two girls walked in. Liam excused himself to go talk with the girls. Louis mentally crossed off the idea of Liam being Zayn's boyfriend; he's obviously straight.

Talking about straight, Louis hadn't been thinking like that for a few days. Ever since the kiss with Harry, he had only been reasoning in his head that he was gay, when he knew he wasn't. It was all too confusing for him. Maybe he just had to get out where all the people were dancing and have a hookup tonight. If it's a girl, then brilliant. If it's a guy, then so what.

Louis left the kitchen with the intention of dancing when an arm grabbed him. He was pulled through the crowd and pushed to the floor. Great, he was sat in the circle of people playing a game. Harry and Niall were in the circle as well. Zayn sat down next to him, his hand still on Louis' arm.

"Sorry for dragging you. Just wanted you to play; that's all."

Louis watched as the game went on. Blindfolded Seven Minutes in Heaven. Great.

He ended up just talking with Zayn, since while people were in the cupboard under the stairs, not much else was going on. Zayn talked about how he wanted a party like this for his own birthday.

They were in the middle of talking about the cake when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Before he could ask, his eyes were covered with a cloth and he was pushed into someone. A door closed behind him, and he realised he was in the cupboard with someone.

He heard a familiar laugh as he felt around. He pull back from the person and lent against the wall. He wanted to take the blindfold off, but he knew he was in the dark, so it wouldn't have made any difference anyway.

The could hear the person move forward, he felt their arm hit into his chest, and the person made a happy sound, glad that they had found him. Louis stayed still. Well, didn't he tell himself before that if he got together with someone, they let it happen...

The person pressed themselves against Louis, and Louis could feel their breath against his lips. All it would have took is one quick movement of the head and-

And his lips met with theirs. Louis wanted it to be sweet, like the kiss he had with Harry, but it wasn't. He wanted to throw up.

Was he kissing an ashtray?

He pushed the person away and took the blindfold off. He couldn't see him, but he knew who it was.

"Fuck you, Nick!"

Nick laughed, taking his own blindfold off. "We have another six minutes, Lou-berry. How 'bout we get funky?!"

Louis really wanted to throw up. All over Nick's pretty little face. He banged on the door and shouted, "Rape!" He didn't really expect anyone to open the door, but when they did, and he ran into Harry's arms, he smiled.

"Thanks Haz."

"He wasn't really going to rape you, was he?"

Louis shook his head, and Harry laughed. Louis rested his head on Harry's shoulder as he kept hugging his friend. Zayn was looking at him; actually, Zayn was looking at Nick. Fire in his eyes.

Louis pulled away from Harry and gave Harry a smile. "I wanna go home..."

Harry frowned. "The party's only started!"

Louis shook his head and started to walk away. Niall would leave with him, he knew. He went to find Niall, but for some reason had lost him in the crowd. He wasn't in the circle anymore. He pushed past numerous people until he felt an arm tugging him again.

He was pulled outside into the crisp, cold Autumn air. He turned to see the familiar face of Zayn holding his arm. "You okay, Lou?"

Louis shrugged his arm to get Zayn to let go, but Zayn didn't. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Did that idiot hurt you?"

Louis shook his head. He looked away from Zayn down the road. "No, he just tasted like a fucking ashtray."

He turned back to smile at Zayn, when he noticed Zayn looking at him with a weird look in his eyes, cigarette pressed between his lips, lighter held up ready to light it. Louis didn't smile.

"Do you want me to..." Zayn said, gesturing to put the cigerette back in his pocket.

Louis didn't want to give the guy a hard time, so shook his head. "No, it's okay..."

Zayn waited a moment, in case Louis changed his mind, then lit the cigarette.

Louis looked away again as he heard Zayn take a drag of it, breathing out slowly. He could see the smoke out of the corner of his eye. He heard Zayn sigh in relief. They started walking down the street.

Louis couldn't help it. "You don't normally smell of smoke."

"I gave up a few years ago..."

Louis gave Zayn a confused look. "The why-?"

"I'm just under a lot of stress at the moment. You know..."

Louis gave him a sympathetic look. "Family?"

Zayn snorted. "Nah, I couldn't care less about them, in all honesty."

Louis looked down. "Not even your sisters?"

Zayn was silent as he took another drag. "It's not my family that's stressing me."

"School?" Louis offered. Zayn shook his head. "What?"

Zayn stayed quiet. Louis patted his arm with the back of his hand. "You can tell me, you know. We're friends."

Zayn stop walking for a moment, looking at Louis. It was like he was studying him, trying to figure him out. "You promise not to tell anyone?"

Louis held out his pinky finger. "Promise!"

Zayn hooked his pinky finger with Louis and smiled. Louis thought he'd pull his hand away, but again found himself holding only Zayn's little finger with his own, holding a gaze.

Zayn sighed. "I think I have a crush on my straight best friend."

"Louis, there you are!"

There was a powerful pat on his back as Niall stood next to Louis. Louis dropped his hand, unhooking their pinkys before Niall could see. "What Niall?"

"Harry told me you were leaving. Thought I should walk you home, in case Nick tries to rape you again."

It was probably then that Niall realised Zayn was stood there, hand still outstretched from when it was holding Louis'. "Oh, hi Zayn. I don't know where you're walking to; you live with Liam!"

Louis doesn't think Niall meant it to sound nasty. He was just stating a point, with an intoxicated tone to it. Louis gave Zayn a small smile before following Niall. "Bye Zayn."

Zayn gave a small wave and watched as Louis and Niall walked away.

\---

Niall fell backwards onto Louis' bed.

"I hate you, you know Lou..."

Louis frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You left early, so I had to leave to walk you home. I am such a nice person, you know that. There were some hot girls there, you know. How did you not see them?"

Louis sighed. "Maybe I stopped noticing..."

Niall lent back on his arm to look at Louis. Louis was stood, looking out of his window. Niall sighed. "You are a bastard, Louis. I'm horny as fuck..."

Louis chuckled. Typical Niall. He decided to joke around. "What, you want me to give you a compromise?"

"What, we fuck? Sure."

Louis cringed at how casually Niall had said this. "I was joking."

"Well I'm not..."

Louis turned around to glare at Niall, only to find his, still lying on his bed, his hand lazily palming himself. Louis groaned. "Niall, serious, on my bed?"

"Are we going to fuck or not?"

Louis looked at his door. "My sisters are as-" He then remember it was Wednesday; his sisters were at their dad's. His mum was working nights. He was cornered.

Louis remembered back before. Whatever the night brings.

"Fine. But I swear to God, Niall, if anything is awkward afterwards, you'll-"

Niall stood up and placed a hand over Louis' mouth. "Just get ya pants off, okay."

Niall reached down and undid the button on Louis' trousers. Louis stood there awkwardly. If he was hard, this might have been less awkward. Niall got Louis' trousers open, palming him through his boxers, trying to get him hard.

Louis wasn't too sure what to do himself. He'd never been with a guy like this before. Or in any way, in fact. Niall noticed this.

"I know you're probably straight, but you should know what guys like. Do something."

Louis took a step closer, pressing their chests together, still with enough room for Niall to press his hand against Louis' slowly hardening dick, and slowly ran a hand down Niall's back. It was more friendly then sexual, but Niall gave a small chuckle.

"Just kiss me, Lou."

So Louis did. He's kissed Harry; he knows what he's doing. He pulled Niall's head forward and slotted their lips together. Niall made a small sound, probably a moan; Louis wasn't focusing on what Niall was doing anymore. He only started noticing when he felt Niall's hand on the other side of his boxers. Louis grunted. How long had it been since he last wanked?

Niall walked Louis backwards to his bed, Louis falling backwards as his knees hit the edge, making their lips disconnect. Niall straddled his hips, grinning down his friend. "God, Lou. Fuck me."

Louis turned red. He was glad when they were interrupted by a knock from the window. They both turned to see a drunk Harry balancing on the tree branch. Louis pushed Niall aside, much to Niall's annoyance, and opened the window and pulled Harry in before he fell.

"What the fuck are you doing, Harry?!" he shouted.

Harry, sat on the floor, drunkenly looked up at Louis. "Watching porn."

Louis groaned in embarrassment. Harry was never going to live this down.

Harry turned to look at Niall. "Wanna make it a threesome?"

Niall seemed to be okay with it. He pushed Harry backwards onto the floor and kissed him, hips vigorously grinding against Harry's. Louis stood back. He wasn't in the mood for any of this. He just wanted to go to sleep and let tomorrow come quickly. He walked away from the moaning mess of jumbled limbs in the middle of his bedroom floor and went to his en suit, closing the door behind him. One shower later (and a wank, listening to the unholy act going on beyond the door) he walked back into his bedroom, the smell of sex completely filling the air.

Harry and Niall were both lay on the floor, Harry laying on top on Niall, head on his chest. Both boys were still naked, and by the looks of things hadn't cleaned up after themselves. Louis found a spare blanket, one he didn't really care about, and threw it over his two friends. It felt so weird getting into his bed with 'that' on the floor next to him, but he thought to himself, he should be use to it by now. Having two not-so-straight friends did come with being the awkward third wheel.

So much for a threesome...

\---

Louis felt, as revenge, he didn't want to wake Niall and Harry up. If they were late for their work experience placements, then more fool them for having sex on Louis' bedroom floor. Louis left with the paranoid thought that his clothes would smell like sex. When he met up with Zayn in the staff kitchen, he relaxed a bit.

"You smell nice. Did you walk? You smell like those flowers- you know, the blue ones that are out this time of year."

Louis laughed. Zayn was a good friend.

"So, I guess you got home alright. I would have texted, but I don't have your number."

Louis suddenly felt bad. "Oh, sorry, I should have gave you my number already. Here." He handed Zayn his phone. Zayn got out his own phone and put the numbers on both phones.

"I've put Liam's on yours as well, just so you know."

Louis smiled. "Okay. Do you want Harry's and Niall's?"

Zayn shrugged, so Louis put them on anyway. "You know, just in case something happens to one of us."

Zayn laughed and reached out a hand and messed up Louis' hair. "Let's get on with work, eh?"

\---

Thursday was much like Wednesday, expect Louis and Zayn talked more. Louis wanted to talk about the whole 'having a crush on his straight best friend', and that Zayn should stop smoking again. He didn't really manage to get it in though.

Could the best friend have been Liam, since Louis had seen Liam go flirt with some girls, but there again, Louis knew first hand that you can flirt with girls yet not be straight. He dealt with that everyday with Harry and Niall. And anyway, if it was Liam, he was best friends with Zayn; he would have told Zayn already if he wasn't straight.

Zayn had other friends, Louis remembered. All of the people at the party last night was his friends from his school. Maybe it was one of them. It would make sense, since if it was someone Louis knew, then Zayn might of told him the name instead of just "my best friend."

Zayn joined Louis at lunch, both taking the bus to meet Harry at the chippy. They sat at the back of the bus, as per usual, Zayn looking out of the window. Louis brought up what he had been wanting to ask.

"Are you still stressing?"

"Over?"

Louis swallowed. "You friend. Ya know..."

Zayn gave a understanding nod, then a thoughtful face. "Kinda..."

"Do you mind me asking who it is?" Louis wasn't too sure if Zayn would tell him or not.

Zayn shrugged. "Just- ya know- someone who's really nice."

Louis saw that Zayn was blushing. He wasn't blind; he knew where this was going.

Right from the very start, he could see where this was going. It starts with meeting someone who has different sexual preferences, then you start questioning you own, then you start noticing them more, because they're different, then you believe your in love with them, when in actual fact you just happen to notice them more than normal people, then they fall in love with you, and then it's just a spiral of 'I know what's coming next'...

Louis sighed and lent back in his seat. "Is he hot?"

Zayn nodded. "He's beautiful."

Louis smiled. "Then tell him."

"He's straight..."

"You sure?"

Zayn gave Louis a small look from the corner of his eye. He knew Louis could see him. It was a questioning look. A debating look. The bus stopped and they got off.

Harry wasn't at the chippy. He wasn't answering his phone either. Niall wasn't too, so he just assumed that they were either still asleep, or didn't go into work today. He sat down with Zayn with a cone of chips between them. He thought he should (at last) tell Zayn about last night. He deserved to know the gossip.

"So, you know last night," Louis started. Zayn nodded. "Well, Niall and I got back to my house, and, well, I'm not too sure how it happened, but I think Niall and I were going to have sex..."

Zayn chocked on a chip, but he got over it quickly. "You and Niall?"

Louis nodded. "Yeah. He was complaining about being dragged away without having sex with some stranger, so one thing led to another and-"

"Did you?"

Louis shook his head. "Harry climbed up the tree outside my window and decided to steal Niall from me. Not that I was really looking forward to fucking him, but, you know..." Zayn narrowed his eyebrows at Louis, so Louis continued. "It's fucking weird that my two best friends fucked on my bedroom floor while I was in the shower."

Zayn laughed. Louis couldn't help but laugh along. "Lou, that's priceless!" Zayn said, hand hitting the table. "Ten point to Gryffindor!"

Louis smiled. He could tell that Zayn and himself were going to be best friend for a long time.

\---

"You wanna come to mine tonight?"

Louis gave Zayn a small shove. "What, so I can help tidy up the after mass of the party?"

Zayn laughed. "Nah, we'll let birthday boy handle that. Let's just hang out- ya know, watch a film, or something."

Louis thought about it for a second. If he agreed, Zayn might make a move. It wasn't a bad thing. He wouldn't mind dating Zayn, it's just that Louis knew that his mind was tricking him. He wasn't really in love with Zayn, he was just interested in him. There's a difference.

If he refused, however, then he'd be stuck with Harry, studying (or, most likely, talking about how flexible Niall is when getting fucked into the carpet, a conversation Louis didn't want to have.)

He agreed, to which Zayn beamed a smile. "I'm so happy!" he said, grabbing Louis' arm and pulling him into his arms. Louis' head landed on Zayn's chest as Zayn wrapped his arms tightly around Louis' back. Louis reminded himself to breath after the shock of the sudden hug took the air from his lungs, and he smiled into the hug, pulling Zayn closer, burying his face into Zayn's hoodie. He liked the fact that Zayn's clothes didn't smell like smoke, even if his breath did at the moment. He was going to change that.

\---

They came across Liam a street away from their house, so walked the rest of the away with him. Liam spoke mostly to Zayn about what had happen to him down at the fire station (something about a BBQ going wrong, Louis wasn't really listening.) They entered their house, and Louis wasn't really too surprised to find the place a tip.

"So, are you going to tidy up?" Louis asked, stepping around a stain on the carpet.

Zayn laughed and flung an arm around Louis' shoulder. "We're going upstairs to watch a film, remember?"

Zayn started to lead Louis to the stairs. Liam followed. "What are we watching?"

Zayn turned to look over his shoulder. "Louis and I are watching what Louis wants to watch. You can tidy up."

Louis thought this was a bit of an arsey move on Zayn's behalf, but Liam gave a small smile and walked to the kitchen anyway. Zayn tugged Louis up the stairs and into the guest room, where he slept.

"Welcome to my kingdom," Zayn said with his arms out. His room wasn't much; a small bed, a sofa, a cupboard and a TV.

Louis nodded as he sat down on the sofa. Zayn opened a cupboard under the TV to show Louis Liam's collection of DVDs. "What do you wanna watch?"

Louis glanced over from where he was sat and said the first film he recognised. "Toy Story?"

Zayn groaned. "That's all Liam ever watches!" he complained, but he took it from the shelve and put it into the Xbox and sat down next to Louis. "Wait, do you want movie snacks?"

Louis nodded. Zayn went to stand up.

"I'll get them," Louis said, standing up. "I'm sure Liam'll help. You get to the start of the movie, yeah?" he said, pointing to the trailers that were playing on the TV. Zayn nodded and Louis went downstairs.

Liam had already made a start on the kitchen. There was now a pile of dirty plates on one side of he sink, and most of the cups were now in a bin bag rather than on the floor. Liam was busy moping up some spilt drink, hips swaying to the Olly Murs song that was on the radio.

Louis knocked on the door frame to get his attention. "Knock, knock."

Liam jumped, but turned around, blushing after being caught dancing. "Oh, hi Lou."

"Hi. I was just grabbing some movie snacks." Louis walked into the kitchen, stepping around the wet tiles.

Liam opened up a cupboard above the oven, full of popcorn and sweets. "We have a lot of movie nights here," Liam explained. He frowned and continued to mop.

Louis noticed Liam's frown. "You okay, Liam?"

"Yeah, I'm okay..." he mumbled, walking over to the other side of he kitchen to mop. Louis grabbed a bag of ready-made popcorn and closed the cupboard. Liam sighed and lent of his mop. Louis turned around and gave him a questioning look.

"There is something bothering me."

"Oh, what's up?"

Liam stared down at the floor for a second, and took a deep breath. "I want to be honest with you, since it seems that you and Zayn have become close very quickly, and I'll probably be seeing you a lot anyway. I want to be your friend, Louis, so I want to be honest with you so that in the future we will trust each other."

Louis nodded for Liam to continue. Liam looked over to the kitchen door, then back at Louis. He lowered his voice, speaking with a very secretive tone. "It's great that you and Zayn are friends- I mean, it's brilliant that he's talking about someone else rather than his family, ya know. But-" Liam sighed and looked down at his feet, "- I can't kept feel..."

Liam looked up and met Louis' eyes. "I'm jealous of you, Lou."

Louis pulled a confused face. "Why? Do you like him or something?"

Liam dropped the mop and ran to Louis, covering Louis' mouth with his hand. "Shush..." He listened for a second before looking back into Louis' eyes. "I don't want him to get ideas."

Louis was confused. He moved away from Liam's hand. "You can tell me, Liam. We're friends, right? We can tell each other stuff."

Liam blushed a little bit. "I don't know if I 'like' him, ya know. He's like a brother, so I don't know whether it's brotherly-friendship type of love, ya know. I mean, I don't even know if I like guys or not. I just assume I'm straight. I never really gave it much thought." He licked his lips as he thought of his next words. "It's just, ever since he moved in, well..."

Louis placed a comforting hand on Liam's shoulder, giving him a nod to continue.

"A few days ago. I had gone to bed before him, and he must have thought I was asleep, and he started-" Liam blushed "-masturbating. I could hear him, and, it turned me on."

Louis nodded his head, squeezing Liam's shoulder.

"Is it wrong? To get off to the sound of your best friend getting off?"

"No, of course not," Louis said, then remembered. "It happened to me the other night. Actually, it was probably worse than yours. Harry and Niall had sex on my bedroom floor and I jacked off in the shower listening to them."

The room was silent for a moment before Liam burst out laughing. "Okay, that's a little bit worse."

Louis laughed, patting Liam's shoulder he was still holding. Liam slowly stopped laughing and looked at Louis. The silence that had fallen upon them seemed tense. Louis thought of Monday. Back then, four days ago, he was in Liam's shoes. Harry had been such a friend to him.

"Do you..." Louis licked his lips, "Do you wanna kiss a guy? See what it's like?"

Liam licked his lips again, and Louis swore he saw Liam's eyes flick down to look at Louis' lips. Liam nodded, swallowing.

Louis gave a small, reassuring smile, then moved his hand from Liam's shoulder to the back of his head. Liam moved his head forward, meeting Louis halfway. Louis' lips grazed over Liam's cautiously, but then he took Liam's bottom lip between his own, pulling it towards him. Liam sighed into the kiss, tilting his head and leaning more into Louis.

There was a cough from the kitchen door. Liam sprung back, his face bright red. Louis looked to where Zayn was lent against the door frame, glaring daggers in his direction.

"Liam, you're suppose to be tidying up..." he growled. He turned around to head back upstairs, but stopped, throwing a quick, "... not making a mess," just to make both Liam and Louis feel worse.

Louis looked over to Liam, who seemed on the verge of tears. He wanted to do something, but he felt that Zayn was still watching them, despite him already upstairs. Louis wasn't too sure whether he should go and join Zayn upstairs or not.

Louis swore he was going to marry Harry, he was that thankful. His phone rang. He picked up to hear Harry's stressed voice. "Lou, where are you? I need your help!"

Louis walked into the hall away from Liam, holding the phone closer to his ear. "I'm at Liam's house with Zayn."

"Oh, I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

Okay, maybe he wouldn't marry Harry.

"Fuck off..."

"Anyway, Lou, I need your help. You know, best friend business. Come to mine," Harry paused, and then, sounding a little more desperate, he said, "please."

Louis chuckled. "You sound like a teenage girl who needs fashion advise."

"It's not like that, actually... Come quickly."

Louis sighed and hung up. He turned around to see Liam looking at his with a curious gaze.

"Could you tell Zayn I had to go. Friendship emergency, or something. It could be anything; it's Harry we're talking about..."

Liam nodded, giving Liam a sad smile. "Okay. I'll see you soon, right?"

Louis nodded, opening the front door. He walked outside, giving Liam another smile. Liam held the door open as he watched Louis walk down the drive. "Lou." Louis turned around. "Thanks."

\---

When Louis arrived at Harry's house he was ushered upstairs into Harry's room. He was pushed down onto the bed by a worried Harry.

"I need your help."

"Who did you kill?" Louis asked jokingly. Harry kept a worried face. "Did you kill someone?"

"Not exactly..." Harry bit him lip, his eyes gazing over to his wardrobe.

Louis stood up, staring at Harry. "What did you do, Harold?"

Harry side-stepped to his wardrobe, leaning his back against it. "Nothing..."

Louis grabbed Harry's shoulder, pulling him away. He wasn't too sure what was going on, why Harry was acting so out of it.

There was probably someone in his wardrobe. (This reminded Louis all too much of Tangled.)

He slowly curled his fingers around the handed of the door and slowly opened it.

He wanted to laugh; he really did. Inside was a blonde leprechaun, a gag-ball strapped around his mouth and his hands tied.

"Harold. There is a boy tired up in your wardrobe."

Harry groaned behind Louis and flopped onto his bed. Niall, looking petrified up at Louis, shook his hands, begging to be untied. Louis wasn't too sure if he should or not; it looked very much like Niall was about to get fucked by Harry, or something. He didn't really expect Harry, or Niall, for that fact, to be the BDSM type, but there again, he didn't expect them to be the type to have sex on their best friend's bedroom floor while he was in the shower.

"What did you do, Harry?"

Harry sighed and buried his face in his hands, still lay back on his bed. "We were going to have sex, but the I freaked out..."

"And so you tired him up and shoved him in the wardrobe and called me?"

Harry sat up and looked at Louis. "He was already tied up when I put him in there."

Louis sat on the bed next to Harry, leaving Niall in his vulnerable state knelt on the wardrobe floor. "I don't get you, Harry."

Harry threw his arm in Niall's direction and cried, "He wanted me to tie him up! He wanted me to fuck him into the mattress! He wanted it!"

Louis rubbed Harry's back. "Did you want it, Harry?"

Harry gave a sniff. He was on the verge of tears. Louis stood up and got some toilet roll from Harry's en suit and handed it to him. "It's okay, Harry."

Harry blew his nose and mumbled into the tissue, "He said he loves me."

Louis looked over to Niall, who had shuffled his way onto the bedroom carpet, desperately trying to get out of the rope around his wrists. Louis wanted to help, but he knew as soon as Niall could talk, he'd out-talk Harry, and right now, Harry needed to talk.

"Do you love him?" he asked Harry, rubbing circles into his friend's back.

Harry gave a sob, pushing his face into his hands. "I don't know!"

Louis looked at Niall and rolled his eyes. "If you two get together, I swear, no more sexy-time on my bedroom floor, okay?"

Niall gave a nod. Harry blew his nose then looked up at Niall. "I don't know how to do 'love'. I'm scared I'll hurt you."

Louis gave a sudden laugh. "Considering the state he's in..."

Harry blushed, then dropped onto the floor and crawled over to Niall. He undid the gag slowly, carefully stroking Niall's cheek with the back of his hand.

Niall stretched his mouth, thankful for being free. His hands were still tied, but he was okay. "Thanks," he whispered to Harry. He smiled at Harry, who was still stroking his cheek. "Don't worry, Harry. We can take it slowly, okay? We'll figure it out."

Harry smiled, then lent over and pressed his lips to Niall's. Louis smiled sweetly at the two. "Well, now that that's settled..." Louis blushed a little bit as his friends deepened their kiss. He didn't know what to do, having already settle this crazy relationship dilemma, so decided to make his exit. He left the two lovebirds (who were more like parrots than doves), and walked home.

Nothing could get crazier than today.

\---

He woke up early Friday morning to his phone buzzing. The first thought that crossed his mind was not that of who was calling, or that it was early, but that it was his last day working with Zayn. He sighed and picked up his phone.

His voice was groggy, especially after having noticed his alarm clock glowing '2:31'. "Hello?"

"Louis." Zayn's voice wasn't groggy. He sounded like he was wide away, like he hadn't gone to sleep yet.

"Zayn, are you okay?" Louis sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes with his spare hand.

"Er, yeah. It's just-" he paused. Louis could hear him move about. "Look outside."

Louis lifted his covers, the cold night air hitting his bare legs. He made his way over to the window, slowly opening it. Despite only being in his underwear and an old T-shirt, Louis decided to climb out and sit on the tree branch. "What's outside?"

He could practically hear Zayn smile. "Wait for it..."

As if on cue, Louis saw something flash across the clear night sky. It took him a second to realise, by that time more and more were shooting across. Louis chuckled, staring in awe.

Zayn spoke softly into the phone. "Make a wish."

Louis closed his eyes for a brief moment, and made his wish.

'I wish that everyone will be happy. No confusion, no tears.'

He thought of Harry as he wished this. He wished that Harry would come to terms with having a relationship with someone nice, that he'll learn that love is okay, and that it's okay to be himself. He wished that Harry would be able to take care of Niall, even if Niall did have weird BDSM kinks.

He thought of Niall as he wished this. He wished that Niall would be able to keep his promise, that he'll go slowly for Harry. He wished that Niall would be able to show Harry the love and compassion he knows his friend deserves, and that he'll be able to teach him how to love. He wished that maybe the two of them would get married, and that he would be their best man.

He thought of Liam as he wished this. He wished that Liam would be able to figure out his sexuality and his feelings for Zayn. He wished that Liam would be happy, whatever he chose. He wished that Liam and himself became best friends, because he truly thought that Liam was a great guy.

He thought of Zayn as he wished this. And he couldn't wish for anything in particular for Zayn. He could of wished that Zayn would be able to make it up with his family. He could have wished that Zayn and Liam were okay together, maybe even wish that Zayn fell in love with Liam. He could have wished that Zayn could get over being in love with his 'straight best friend' and stop smoking. He could of wished for many things for Zayn, but he didn't wish. He just thought of him.

"What did you wish for?"

Louis kept his eyes closed, thinking of Zayn. He opened his mouth to answer, when Zayn's voice got in there first.

"Did you wish for trousers?"

Louis almost fell out of the tree. He opened his eyes and looked down. Zayn was sat on his garden wall, waving up to him. Louis blushed and scrambled back inside. He found a pair of jogging trousers and put them on quickly. He went to his window to climb out again, but Zayn was already half was up the tree.

Zayn climbed into his bedroom, his smile glinting in the moonlight.

Louis pointed down to his legs. "My wish came true! Would you believe that!"

Zayn chuckled and walked forwards. He stopped when he was toe-to-toe with Louis. He smiled at Louis, his eyes soft as they looked into Louis'.

"Do you want to know what I wished for?"

Louis licked his dry lips quickly and nodded. Zayn lent forward more, his nose gently bumping against Louis'. Zayn's eyes glanced down to look at Louis' lips, and he slowly brought a hand up. He brushed his thumb over Louis' cheek, his palm cupping Louis' chin.

Louis couldn't handle it anymore. He knew it was inevitable. He closed his eyes, brushing his nose past Zayn's, until he felt Zayn's warm lips on top of his.

His phone buzzed. The first thought that crossed his mind was not that of who was calling, or that it was early, but that it was his last day working with Zayn. He sighed and picked up his phone.

His voice was groggy, especially after having noticed his alarm clock glowing '2:31'. "Hello?"

"Louis." Zayn's voice wasn't groggy. He sounded like he was wide away, like he hadn't gone to sleep yet.

"Zayn, are you okay?" Louis sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes with his spare hand. He remembered his dream, and blushed.

Zayn sighed into the phone. "I just wanted to say that, what happened before... I've spoken to Liam, and he told me what was going on. I..."

Louis heard as Zayn moved. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry if I acted like an arsehole earlier. And-"

Louis heard a motor ringing on the other side of the phone.

"I just wanted to tell you that there are shooting stars outside."

Louis couldn't help but feel deja vu, but then he remembered his dream. Learning from his dream-mistake, he put on the jogging trousers and made his way to his window. He drew back the curtains and opened the window to find a familiar face sat in his tree.

"Make a wish."

\---

Louis woke up again at 7:30. He wanted to stay in bed forever, but almost convinced himself to get up and go to work, but then a tight arm around his waist convinced him otherwise. He smiled and lent back into the embrace.

"Morning, Lou," Zayn whispered, burying his nose into the back of Louis' neck.

Louis wasn't quite sure which of the two scenarios was real: the one where Zayn kissed him, or the one where Zayn and himself stayed up watching Toy Story like they had meant to the day before, then fell asleep on Louis' bed.

Either way, Louis was happy that he woke up to Zayn.

They both reluctantly got up, since, they both knew that Zayn couldn't go to work in his hoodie and pyjama bottoms. Louis got his clothes and went into his en suit to get dressed, and then they both walked to Zayn's house.

Liam was already up when they got there. He was in the kitchen, eating some toast. Louis was amazed that the house was actually clean now. Liam smiled at him as they walked in.

"I'll be down in a minute," Zayn said before he ran upstairs to get dressed.

Louis sat down across from Liam. "You okay, Liam?"

Liam nodded, chewing on some toast. "Yeah, I'm alright now." He swallowed, took a sip of his tea, then continued, "I spoke with Zayn yesterday."

"I know..." Louis said with a small smile.

Liam sighed and put down the piece of toast he had in his hand. "He says he had a lovely friend who would be willing to... show me what a homosexual relation is like."

Louis smiled. "Well, that'll be nice, won't it?"

Liam smiled. "Yeah. His name's Josh. Apparently he knows Niall, but there again, everyone just about knows everyone in this town."

Louis gave a small chuckle in agreement. Maybe the Liam part of his wish might be coming true.

Zayn came back downstairs in his work clothes and smiled to Louis. "Should we go now?"

Louis nodded, picking up his bag and smiling to Liam. "I'll see you later then," he said.

Liam smiled back. "Okay. See ya, Lou."

\---

It was their last day at the school, so they were in the Year 3's and 4's class. The children were a lot smarter, as they expected, and didn't need that much help. But, it was Friday, and the children spent most of the day playing, since they had Golden Time. Louis sat in the reading corner, reading The BFG to some of the children. Zayn was sat at a table with a pile of plain paper, drawing little cartoons for the children to colour in.

Louis kept looking over to Zayn, smiling when they both caught each other looking. Louis knew that something was different. Even though he believed that the second dream, the one with Toy Story was real, he wanted to believe the first dream was the real one. Maybe it was. Maybe it really happened, and Louis and Zayn went to bed, and Louis somehow managed to dream the whole film of Toy Store from memory.

At lunch Louis and Zayn went to the chippy. Harry was there. To Louis surprise (though it shouldn't have been) Niall was there as well, and as he and Zayn walked in, his two friends were slowly kissing, an abandoned cone of chips laying on the table. Zayn picked up the chips and noisily pulled a chair up. Harry and Niall pulled away, Harry blushing.

"Nice to see your both happy," Zayn commented, to which Niall laughed.

Harry gave Louis a small smile, then mouthed 'Thanks' to him.

Maybe the Harry and Louis part of the wish had come true as well. Well, at least some of it. Harry seemed happy with Niall, and Niall didn't look too bothered going slow.

Maybe wishes did come true.

\---

The afternoon was Assembly, and all of the children were in the hall. Louis and Zayn sat at the edge of the hall in plastic chairs, smiling at each other as the children sang songs about loving Jesus and all-that-jazz.

Louis still couldn't quite put his finger on the feeling he's had all week. He meet this boy called Zayn, and he suddenly had unknown feelings for this boy. He can't call it love, because he knows what love feels like. He felt love when he was dating Eleanor. He felt the need to kiss her when he was bored. He felt the need to fuck her when they were alone. That was love.

Love obviously wasn't what he felt with Zayn. If it were, then he would have kissed Zayn when these feelings started. He would have had sex with him. He would have been doing things that couples do.

Kiss and sex.

Louis thought it over again. Yes, that's what he did when he was in a relationship. That's what other people do as well, right?

He thought of Harry and Niall. Yes, they kiss and have sex. They have love. So, by theory, he's not in love with Zayn. Yes?

But, he told himself, Harry and Niall are not normal. Niall's a BDSM freak who loves sex, and Harry's just... Harry...

What do other people do?

He thought of sister, Lottie. She has a boyfriend. She brought him around only just last week. What were they doing?

Kissing and having sex?

No. Louis mentally put his foot down on the situation. Lottie was in love with her boyfriend- she was old enough to understand- and she didn't kiss and have sex with her boyfriend all of the time. They were sat on the sofa, holding hands. They were staring into each others eyes, holding every moment like it was their last. They shared their smiles, the smiles they have only for the other. They whispered secrets into each others ears. Lottie showed her boyfriend her artwork, something very special to her. They loved each other.

Louis suddenly felt like a wave had crashed over him.

They held hands.

They locked eyes.

They smiled.

They kept secrets.

They shared moments.

Louis turned and looked at Zayn.

The pinky holding.

The knowing looks.

The glowing smiles.

The 'smoking' secret.

The shooting stars.

The children were just finishing the Lords prayer when Louis stood up, hand clasped around his mouth, and ran out of the hall. Some of the teachers looked concerned at him, but none of them stopped him. Louis ran, ran as far as he could before the corridor came to a stop and he was trapped with only the bathroom door saving him.

He jumped into the bathroom, leaning against the wall. He could fell the hot tears streaming down his face. Why was he crying? He didn't know. He slid down the wall onto the sticky floor, curling into a ball.

Confusion.

He ran because of confusion. Too many thought and emotions to handle.

He knew he was lying to himself. He wasn't confused; he knew what he felt.

He pulled out his phone and started to find Harry's contact so he could ring him, but the phone was pulled from his hand. He felt an iron grasp on his wrist as he was pulled out of the bathroom. He went to scream, but his face was suddenly covered in the material of Zayn's shirt.

Louis' body was weak, and Zayn felt to the floor with his, holding his close to his chest as he lent against the hallway wall. Louis was crying more. He couldn't stop if he tried. Zayn's arms were tight around his body, so he had to cry. Zayn's mouth was pressed into his neck, so he had to cry. Zayn was whispering little hushes, so he had to cry. He had to get rid of the feelings.

Crying got rid of the confusion, so he felt okay after ten minutes of sobbing into Zayn's shirt. He sat still after he had finished, his nose rubbing further into Zayn's shirt, even if the wetness of his tears made him want to sneeze.

Zayn hugged him tightly, pulling him up so that Louis was knelt in front of him. He pushed Louis' head away so that he could look at him. He sighed as he saw Louis' devastated face, and cupped Louis' jaw with his palms, rubbing his thumbs under both of Louis' eyes.

"Are you okay, Lou?"

Louis nodded, hugging his own waist with his arms. He felt so small, and he just wanted Zayn to protect him from what was going on inside his head.

"Zayn," he whispered. Zayn nodded. "Can we go home. Please."

Zayn nodded again, smiling knowingly at Louis. He pulled Louis' head into his chest and he stood up, an arm wrapped around his waist. "Come on, Lou. Let's get you home."

\---

By home, Zayn meant his house. It was quiet without Liam there, but Louis knew that was alright. Zayn sat Louis down in his bed, tucking him in tightly before he went downstairs to make some soup. Louis closed his eyes, bringing some of the cover up to his nose, smelling it. It smelt like Zayn. No smoke, no aftershave. Just Zayn.

It made him feel fuzzy. Then he realise he was starting to get hard.

Love. Oh course.

Zayn came back upstairs with the soup and two cups of tea. Louis sat up and took the soup off Zayn. Zayn placed Louis' tea on the bedside table, sipping his own before sitting down at the foot of the bed.

"Are you okay now, Lou?"

Louis ate a spoonful of soup then nodded. "Yeah... Thanks Zayn."

"It's okay."

The room was silent for a moment before Zayn spoke. "What happened back there? Did you have a freak out?"

Louis nodded. "A little bit."

"A little bit? I'm sure if that was your real job, you'd have been fired!"

Louis nudged Zayn with his toe and continued eating his soup. They were both silent as they ate and drank. Zayn kept looking worriedly at Louis, who kept looking back with his cheeks tainted pink.

Once Louis had finished the soup and the cup of tea Zayn handed him, he closed his eyes and let himself sink with the intoxicating smell of Zayn that surrounded him. He heard Zayn collect the dishes and take them downstairs.

Louis brought the covers up to his face again, deeply inhaling the scent of Zayn.

Yes, he was getting hard.

Zayn walked back into the room, taking in the sight of Louis with the covers pressed up against his nose and mouth.

"You okay there, Lou?"

Louis nodded, groaning a little bit for being disturbed. Zayn sat back at the end of the bed, placing a gentle hand on Louis' leg. A sound caught in Louis' throat. Zayn noticed.

"Lou?"

Louis hummed. He felt Zayn move further up the bed.

"What happened before?"

Louis kept his eyes closed and his face hidden. He spoke slowly. "I realise something."

Zayn placed an hand on Louis arm as his weight shifted. Louis felt one of Zayn's legs on the other side. He was fully aware of Zayn straddling his legs, leaning forward. Zayn's chest pressed up against Louis', only a few centimetres of air and a duvet cover stopping what Louis wanted and knew what would happen.

Zayn rocked forward, and Louis knew that he was grinded against his hard-on. Zayn pressed his lips against Louis' ear, rocking his hips again.

"What did you realise?"

The air caught in Louis' lungs as Zayn rocked again. Louis could feel that Zayn was equally hard. They were only semi's, but Louis cold see the way this was going.

Louis pulled the duvet away from his face to look up at Zayn. Zayn's eyes were glowing. He knew he was going to say it. He knew, like he was reading Louis' mind. Like he was inside Louis' head. He knew. But the look on his face as he said it still made him smile.

"I love you."

Zayn's nose bumped Louis' as he pressed his lips against Louis', slotting Louis' bottom lips between his own. Louis sighed, and it kept like a wave crashing over his whole body, staring from his chest, relieving him from all of the confusion and stress of this week.

Zayn pulled away slowly, only a few centimetres, and whispered, "Guess what?" He captured Louis' lips in his again, pulling a small moan out of Louis. Louis' hips rose up to meet Zayn's, making Zayn grunt.

Zayn's hands made their way to Louis' trousers, and Louis knew it was real. He had nothing to worry about. Zayn was going to look after him, because he knew Zayn felt the same.

Zayn pulled back a little, bringing up his hand away from Louis' trousers to cup Louis' cheeks with both hands. He pressed their foreheads and noses together, stopping the grinding, and for a split second everything stopped.

"I love you too."

\---

Saturday rolled around sooner than Louis wanted. It's not that he wasn't happy that it was the weekend, but he was going on that overnight holiday with Harry and Niall to London.

He got out of Zayn's bed too early for his liking, leaving a peacefully sleeping Zayn tucked in the sex-stenched bedsheets. He put on some underwear and one of Zayn's T-shirts before tiptoeing downstairs to the kitchen to grab breakfast. He wasn't planning on leaving before Zayn woke up.

Liam was sat at the kitchen table eating toast. He blushed when he saw Louis. "Sleep well?"

Louis nodded and grabbed Liam's second piece of toast, taking a bite out of it. "Very well, thank you."

Liam smirked. "You two look cute together." He blushed again, taking a bite from his own toast. "I heard you two when I came back home." He took and sip of his tea and continued. "I went to check on you when you didn't come down for tea. You where both asleep."

Louis nodded.

Liam chuckled and took out his phone. "I couldn't help it," he said as he showed Louis a picture of him and Zayn in each other arms, fast asleep.

Louis felt his heart clench with happiness. "Please sent that to the both of us," he said.

Louis felt an arm around his waist, which made him jump.

"You weren't there when I woke up. I thought you were a dream."

Louis smiled and turned around, tightly hugging Zayn. "I'm sorry." He pulled back and smiled at Zayn. "I promised Harry that we'd go to London this weekend."

Louis saw Zayn frown. Crazy, he may be, but he thought of an idea. "I'm sure Harry and Niall will let you come with us!"

Zayn practically exploded with happiness right then. He wrapped his arms tightly around Louis and hugged him.

Liam coughed behind them, making Louis laugh. He pulled away from Zayn and smiled at Liam. "Yes, dear?"

"Can I come?"

Louis laughed and nodded. "Of course. Oh, and bring your boyfriend."

Liam blushed and looked down, mumbling, "I haven't met Josh yet."

Zayn hugged Louis from behind again, resting his chin on his shoulder.

Louis smiled. He was happy.

\---

London was amazing. Liam had took a video camera with him, filming everything they did. He met Josh, at long last, and they just seemed to click. Louis was happy for them.

They went clubbing on the Saturday night. Louis, on the Monday, flicked through his phone and found this picture:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9pn4zJ07t1r7geejo1_500.png

The Sunday morning they went ice skating. Liam showed Louis the footage from that day. Louis couldn't help but smile, seeing how beautiful Harry and Niall are together.

http://31.media.tumblr.com/85edfbc40994cac99b27f74d9840f0c8/tumblr_mt2oncdmoD1s57mx1o6_500.gif

The Sunday afternoon they went on the London Eye. Louis' heart clenched as he watched the footage of that day. He then realised how perfect he and Zayn were together.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md5a91Kz361rt2432.gif

Louis smiled, leaning his head on Zayn's shoulder. Zayn pulled him closer, hugging his waist. Niall lay on Harry's stomach, both cuddling, watching Liam's homemade movie. Liam was sat next to Josh, holding hands with his new boyfriend.

Louis turned his head and pressed his lips to his boyfriend's ear. "Do you remember when we watched the stars?"

Zayn nodded, pulling Louis onto his lap. Louis smiled, leaning back into Zayn's arms.

"What did you wish for?"

Zayn pressed his lips against Louis' neck and chuckled.

"I wished that an angel would look over you."

Louis smiled, wrapped up tight in Zayn's protective arms.

Wishes do come true.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for spending however many hours it took you to read this! It took me so long to write, so I hope you liked it! :D
> 
> I post all of the fics on this Tumblr as well, so you can check that out if you would like!  
> (onedirectionrequest.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you all so much for the love and support, and don’t forget to summit your prompts! Love forever x


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